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A European plan to control “legal highs” could undermine efforts to regulate them, a Liberal Democrat minister has warned.

Norman Baker, who joined the Home Office in last week’s reshuffle, said that Britain was ahead of other European countries in the fight against mind-altering substances such as mephedrone, also known as miaowmiaow.

The European Commission has set out plans for an EU-wide policy on legal highs, which would give Brussels the power to ban chemicals deemed harmful.

However, in a surprising stance for a Liberal Democrat minister, Mr Baker said that the decision to ban certain drugs should be “dealt